The Needs of Others
by T-Bone14
Summary: Jaime has noticed that Bart is way too small to be healthy, but the answer isn't exaclty his expectation. Spoilers from Before the Dawn. Jaime/Bart Friendship


The four boys sat in Jaime's living room as the credits of an action movie rolled across the screen of the television. Tim and Garfield stood up to stretch as Jaime grabbed another chip. Soft snoring came from the speedster lying next to him.

"Jaime, we're gonna head out. Gar's staying at my place and Batman's gonna kill me if I'm late again." Tim mentioned as the duo headed towards the door. "We're heading the same way as Central city if you wanna wake Bart up."

"Nah, he's spending the night so it's fine." Jaime explained as the other two nodded and left. Jaime hopped off the couch and turned the t.v. off, figuring Bart was out for the rest of the night. He looked back at the sleeping figure on the couch.

'_Better take him to my room.' _Jaime thought as he lowered himself to the ground. Jaime picked Bart up, astonished at how light he was. He knew Bart was slim, but he hadn't expected the speedster to be _that _small. _'How much does he even weigh?'_

"_The boy weighs 82.4 pounds. BMI is 14.5. He is under the 2__nd__ percentile of weight." _Scarab chimed in.

"Meaning?" Jaime quietly questioned as he walked up the stairs.

"_Bart Allen is underweight by about 30.6 pounds." _Scarab announced. Jaime blinked in surprise. Jaime set Bart down on the sleeping bag set up in his room. Jaime shook off the newly learned info about his friend as he threw some shorts on.

The teen lied down and pulled the sheet up, pushing the thoughts of Bart to the back of his head.

…

Jaime tossed and turned. No matter what he did, he couldn't find a comfortable position. He couldn't stop thinking about his friend.

'Why am I so worried about this? I already knew he was small, so how does knowing his actual weight make any difference?'

"_Recall earlier, Jaime Reyes. You know why this bothers you so much." _Scarab commanded. Jaime knew what the scarab was talking about.

The boys were sitting in the living room, watching a movie and eating pizza. Tim and Gar both reached for the last slice and were fighting over it.

"Hey, you already had four pieces!" Garfield argued.

"Well you practically ate half the pizza yourself!" Tim rebutted. Jaime stepped between the two with another pizza.

"Chill hermanos, we got another pizza left, and we haven't even gotten to the chips and candy." Tim and Gar discarded the last slice for a piping hot new piece from Jaime's box. Jaime set a slice on his plate as he sat down. Jaime glance over towards Bart's seat noticing the speedster's eyes switching from the movie to the pizza, but he made no move to get a slice for himself. Figuring Bart would get a piece later, Jaime went back to watching the movie.

"But he was probably just full." Jaime whispered to the scarab.

"Last month, you noticed the same situation at the cave. There was not enough food for everyone, and Bart left right away."

Jaime recalled the event. M'gann forgot Bart, Tim, and Jaime were eating with them tonight, and Bart took his phone out and said Joan and jay wanted him home. But Jaime knew the Garricks were out for the night, which was the reason Bart was eating dinner at the cave anyway.

The more Jaime thought about it, Bart always had a reason for not eating much with other people.

Jaime snapped out of his thoughts when he heard rustling on the floor next to him. He looked down to see Bart rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Bart, ese." Jaime whispered. Bart looked up towards Jaime and smiled.

"Hey Jaime. What's up?"

"I need to talk to you about something." Bart's smile faded at the serious tone in Jaime's voice.

"What's wrong?"

Jaime sighed. "It's just that I've notice something recently. I know you are a speedster, and from what I've heard, that causes you to need more food to keep up with your speed. But whenever I see you eat dinner, you barely eat. You have to still be hungry, but you never go for more food. And it's not just that you don't eat a lot. You are way too skinny. It doesn't seem natural. I picked you up from the couch earlier, and it was like lifting air. Your 5'3 and you only weigh like 80 pounds. That's not healthy hermano."

Bart looked away from Jaime's eyes for a minute. He took a deep breath before returning to look at his friend.

"Jaime. There's more you should know about my life. You know that in the future, we are all slaves to Reach. And I've already told you about Scavenger's rights, where if you find food, you can just take it. Well, that's only when it's just you. When there's others with you, other people that you trust, you need to share, make sure everyone ahs something to keep them going. If that means sacrificing some of your food for them, it's something that you have an obligation to do. Over time, our bodies had become so used to living on next to nothing. In my time, being extremely underweight is a normal thing. Our stomachs had shrunk, only being able to hold small amounts. If you were lucky enough to find a lot of food for yourself, you couldn't eat it all because your body would just reject it.

My body is still getting used to the fact that you can eat every day in this time. Sometimes, when I'm starving, and all I want to do is eat everything in sight, I have to control myself. Eat only small amounts so I don't get sick. I still have the instincts to let others eat and keep their strength before myself. Other people need it more than I do."

Jaime moved himself to the floor next to Bart. The speedster was shaking with his head down as he relived his memories from the future. Guilt overcame Jaime. Ever since Bart had told him his future, about joining the light and forcing others to be slaves, he felt responsible for the torment Bart had to go through. Not knowing exactly what to do, Jaime hugged Bart. Bart was taken back for a second before wrapping his arms tight around his friend.

"I know your life was full of pain, and you had to sacrifice so much, but you're here now. You don't' have to sacrifice things for other's survival anymore. You can do what is best for you." Jaime whispered. Bart sniffled as he held back his emotions.

"Thank you Jaime." Whispered back shakily.

Jaime could tell Bart wasn't ready to let go; they sat there in each other's arms until they eventually fell asleep.

…

Jaime and Bart sat at the table, and eating the large stacks of pancakes Jaime's mom had made for them.

"Thanks again Mrs. R!" Bart said with a mouthful of pancakes.

"Thanks Mama." Jaime added before grabbing for his orange juice.

"Your welcome boys, but Jaime, if you and your boyfriend sleep together again, please shut the door."

Bart slightly choked on his pancakes and Jaime spit out his juice in surprise as his mother just walked away.

…

I'M NOT DEAD! I've tried writing like twenty different things, but I never finished any of them! AHHHH!

But I finally finished something! Yay! And I hope you guys like Jaime and Bart, because they are my new favorite Characters!

I know the endings pretty weird but I just thought it would be funny….eh. oh well. Better than nothing! And I do/don't' ship them. Depends on the situation. THIS ONE IS NOT A SLASH SHIP!

Thanks for reading!


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